New York City Center will revive Elizabeth Swados’ 1978 musical Runaways as part of the 2016 Encores! Off-Center season. The news follows the recent death of the experimental music composer on Jan. 5.

Liz Swados

Encores! Off-Center artistic director Jeanine Tesori announced that the production will be directed by Sam Pinkleton.

"When I came to Encores! Off-Center, Runaways was at the top of my list of shows to present," Tesori said in a statement. "I have always wanted to honor Liz’s work and thank her for the extraordinary contributions she made as a theater artist. She was a woman to look up to and made room for other artists like myself."

Tesori went on to say that she had approached Swados six months ago with the idea of a concert revival and the two had begun talking about how to stage it.

"We decided to cast the production largely from an open call to high school students across the five boroughs, a gesture that Liz loved. Since we can’t do Runaways with her, we’ll now do it for her," continued Tesori. "We are heartbroken by the news of her passing and our hearts go out to her widow, Roz."

The Runaways artistic team will include Pinkleton and choreographer Ani Taj, who were both students of Swados’ at NYU Tisch. Full details about Runaways, and the rest of the 2016 Encores! Off-Center season, will be announced at a later date.